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Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Ellen and I went into NYC last night for our first Broadway show. As in, a show being performed on Broadway!! Lee got me tickets when I missed yet another Mom's Night Out in October, to show me that I do indeed get to go out, and motherhood is not a conspiracy designed to prevent me from every seeing the outside world again. Of course, once we got the tickets and planned the outing, his mom went back into the ICU and was set to be taken off life support, so the timing for this outing sucked too. However, Lee was insistent that I go see the show regardless of the situation with his mom. Fiercely insistent. So, I picked Ellen up and drove off to the train, feeling only a little bit like a horrible person for leaving Lee alone with the kids during such an emotional time. As the trip began, I focused on enjoying myself, since there is nothing more ungrateful than wasting a husband's sacrifice by feeling guilty. He insisted, so I enjoyed. Thank you honey! You gave me a wonderful night.

There are some perks to living in New Jersey, and being an hour long train trip from Broadway and Times Square is one of those perks. We caught the 5 pm train and hit Penn Station about 6:15. We had time to find our subway, shoot over to Port Authority, and wander around gawking at the tall spires of billboards and the sheer ant colony-esque energy of NYC for a while. We walked through Times Square, ate a little dinner at the Junior's down from our theater, and settled in about ten minutes before the show started.

Here we are standing still in a flurry of activity. (Taken by two kind, though not particularly skilled photography-wise, tourists)It was a wonderful night. I was a little nervous about leaving Otter without "the Boob" for so long, but he doesn't seem to have suffered overly much, though he wouldn't eat anything Lee tried to give him and they had a bit of a rough night. I am so glad we went though. Ellen and I haven't had time to ourselves sans children for a very long time, and it was good to go play like a grown up. I love NYC, it is one of my favorite places to go, but I can't enjoy it when the kids are along. I am too much of a nervous nellie to relax my death grip on Monkey's hand and just enjoy the things around me. When I am there without children the City actually relaxes me. I can watch the things going on around me and revel in the sheer magnitude of energy that is New York. So it was a real treat (thank you hubby!) to go out for a night on the big apple without the kids.

What did we see on our adventure? Muppet sex! Yes, muppet sex. Full on, furry bodied, the actors spent way too long making it look real, I can't believe we are seeing this, muppet sex. (Does that muppet have nipples and chest hair?) Avenue Q is full of muppet sex, and hysterical songs like "Everyone's a little bit racist", "The internet is for porn" and "It sucks to be me". I haven't laughed so hard in a long, long time. I also haven't blushed so much, or been caught so off guard. It is a funny, funny show. I really wanted to buy the soundtrack, but the last thing I need right now is a parent teacher conference because my daughter is singing about pornography and racism. It is soooo not a show for kids (though there were a few there! Oh hapless unwary parents!)

After the show we caught the train and headed home to bed and hungry baby. We got back a little after midnight, and I was up nursing the baby and caring for a coughing Monkey until a little after one. It was beyond worth the sleeplessness though. I am so thrilled to have gone to a show on Broadway, and so refreshed to have had a night out alone with a great friend.

Ellen and I in Times Square, vainly attempting to take our own photo together: